WrestleMania 29 Results: Top 9 Challengers for the WWE Title

After almost 18 months of being without a title, John Cena is now your new WWE champion

He, of course, defeated long-time foe Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson for the title in an enjoyable, if somewhat predictable, WrestleMania main event. (Alas, Cena didn't shock everyone and turn heel, like many hoped.)

Per the storyline, the victory is a huge triumph for Cena. After a year of personal and professional hell, or so WWE tells us, he has finally redeemed himself and turned things around.

But who will he face now? Well, here are nine interesting possibilities.

9. Antonio Cesaro

Sadly, the United States champion's stock has fallen greatly in recent times. The star is doing job after job on television, wasn't even booked for a match at WrestleMania and has generally fallen into irrelevance. Considering how talented the former ROH wrestler is—he is easily one of the best wrestlers on the roster—this is a terrible waste.

With this in mind, is it possible a run at the WWE championship could turn things around for him? Oh, why not? He wouldn't have to win; it would just be something to return him to relevance again.

And, besides, at least Cena/Cesaro would be a fresh feud. Do fans really need to see Cena/CM Punk again? Of course not.

8. Damien Sandow

Over the past year, Damien Sandow has emerged as one of the best—and funniest—midcard wrestlers on the roster.

His pretentious, ultra-snobby heel character has been an undisputed highlight of WWE programming over the year last year, and Team Rhodes Scholars has to be one of the best pairings in the business.

Considering this, is it time the tag team wrestler got a promotion and a shot at the World title?

Besides, how funny would Cena/Sandow's interaction be? Sandow might be one of the few guys around who can bring out the best in the WWE champion and make his often-cheesy comedy material funny.

And, hey, it would be one way to make up for his advertised match at WrestleMania getting bumped off the card.

7. Big E. Langston

Interestingly, a feud between the behemoth and Cena was strongly hinted at earlier this year, when Langston made his debut on television by going directly after the star and brutally taking him out.

Sadly, nothing ever came of this, and Langston has stuck to being at Dolph Ziggler's and A.J.'s side ever since.

Is it time for WWE to revive the idea of Langston/Cena? After all, he does have a fair amount of in-ring talent, and it would be a fresh feud.

6. Triple H

OK, so Triple H is mostly done with wrestling now—although after his victory tonight over Brock Lesnar, he's still yet to officially retire—but why not give the real-life C.O.O one last run at the title before he finally wraps up his career?

If nothing else it would be a compelling storyline: The aging, grizzled veteran doing his best to fight off the younger, hungrier contender in John Cena.

5. Mark Henry

Following his victory over Ryback tonight, Mark Henry has a better argument than most for being the new No. 1 contender to the WWE title.

There's also the fact that Henry/Cena would be an new interesting feud, and one that would force Cena to up his game considerably.

Of course, one possible problem with this is that the crowd could end up siding with Henry, like what happened in his match with Ryback tonight and booing Cena more than they already do. But we reckon it's still worth a shot.

4. Brock Lesnar

While he ultimately fell to Triple H at WrestleMania, Brock Lesnar still put on an incredibly powerful performance in their match.

Sure, he lost, but he's still the most dominant monster heel around (sorry, Mark Henry).

Just how scary did Lesnar come off when he was screaming into the camera tonight?

Ideally, WWE will now move to insert him into the title picture. After all, he's been around for well over a year now, so why hasn't he gone after one of the main belts? Shouldn't that be next on Paul Heyman's list.

And he and Cena do have unfinished business, stemming from the Extreme Rules pay-per-view in which Lesnar lost to the star clean.

3. Sheamus

Since losing the title to Big Show last year, Sheamus has been out of the main event picture. Indeed, the Irish star has been more concerned with bringing down rebel group The Shield in recent times than getting a World title again.

But surely it's time for him to go after one of the major titles? Maybe he could turn back heel (his current character is a bit bland and boring, after all). And a Sheamus/Cena feud over the prized belt could be a great one.

2. The Miz

After the surprise success of WWE Studios' action movie The Marine 3: Homefront when it was released on DVD and Blu-ray last month, The Miz has, once again, established himself as one of the few current WWE Superstars who has any real presence or notoriety in the mainstream.

With this in mind, why doesn't WWE attempt to capitalize on this and put him in a program with Cena again? A title-versus-title bout (Miz won the Intercontinental Championship from Wade Barrett at WrestleMania) would be something different, after all.

It may even be what turns Miz back heel, no doubt something that will be welcomed by those who despise his current baby-face act.

1. The Rock

OK, so these two did shake hands and embrace after their WrestleMania match tonight, but come on, are we meant to believe their issues with each other are really over?

Besides, as Wrestling Inc. notes, The Rock is currently advertised for the Extreme Rules pay-per-view later this month, and it wouldn't make sense for him to begin a whole new program with anyone else, especially since his movie career means he's not sticking around long-term. A rematch with Cena is the likely direction.

Can anyone say "Thrice in a Lifetime?"